Comparing the iPhone 5 Sony Xperia Z

Rarely have phones in the smartphone market looked as good these two devices. The manufacturers are at very different stages of their smartphone development processes. This article will look at a bit about Sony, and then a bit about Apple, and then we’ll compare these phones on their specifications. By the end we’ll come to a verdict about which is better.

Sony and their New Image

Sony has split from Ericsson in the manufacture and design of their phones. This has been an amazing decision. Sony managed to get the previous flagship model into the hands of James Bond in the film Skyfall, and certainly they have been incredibly successful with their phones in lots of different ways.

The Sony Xperia Z is a beautiful phone in the Sony mold. It is sexy and chic yet flashy and flamboyant.

Sony have, with this phone, launched themselves into the top end of the smartphone market. For me, this is the third best phone in the market place at the moment.

The iPhone 5 and iPhone Deals

Apple had a really interesting 2012. The Apple iPhone 4S and the Apple iPhone 5 were extremely successful in the market place. Indeed, the Apple iPhone 5 was released to a fervent clamor from Apple supporters, who bought around 50 million phones in about a week.

It was one of the most successful launches in history. However, they were in and out of court with Samsung over patent infringements; fighting hard to try and protect their intellectual property. They were widely criticized by analysts in the industry for lacking innovation in their latest model.

It’s widely agreed that Apple is going to have to release a superb phone in the iPhone 5S or iPhone 6 in order to regain the attention of both consumers and the industry.

There’s some speculation that the next phone will have a 4.7 inch display and also that there will be iPhone deals on phones as cheap as $300. Only time will tell whether we will see a mega scree iPhone of 5.5 inches, and whether we will see the budget model that is being suggested.

The Phone Comparison

Without further ado, let’s have a look at the phone comparison.

The Operating Systems

The Sony Xperia Z runs off the Android 4.1.2 operating system, and the iPhone 5 runs off the iOS 6.1. To me, Android is always better than the iPhone operating system simply because you have more apps at 700,000 and the user interfaces are skinned for different phones and are always very interesting

Dimensions of the Phones

The Sony Xperia Z measures 139.1x71x7.9 mm, while the iPhone 5 measures 123.8×58.6×7.6 mm. In thickness they are very similar; the Sony Xperia Z is necessarily bigger in order to carry the 5 inch display instead of the 4 inch on the iPhone 5.

In terms of weight they are quite different, with the Sony Xperia Z measuring 146 grams and the iPhone 5 just 112 grams.

Water Resistant and Dust Proof

The Sony Xperia Z has the special feature that it is water resistant and dust-proof. It is IP 57 certified and this makes it incredibly resilient and more able to see you through the inevitable accidents over a 24-month contract.

The Displays

The display on the Sony Xperia Z, for me is far superior. It has 443 pixels per inch compared to 326 pixels per inch on the iPhone 5. The difference is discernible to the naked eye and the extra inch on the Sony Xperia Z really does make a difference, too.

Battery Life

The Sony Xperia Z far out-performs the iPhone in terms of battery life. On stand-by time, it has 550 hours, which is above the average for phones. This compares to just 9.4 hours for the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 battery life is about half that of the average phone.

On talk time on 3G, the Sony Xperia Z again beats the iPhone, with 14 hours compared to 8 hours on the iPhone 5.

The Hardware

The Sony Xperia Z sports a 1500 MHz quad-core processor. The iPhone 5 sports a dual-core 1300 MHz processor. It also has double the RAM of the iPhone 5.

In memory capacity, the Sony Xperia wins again. Although the iPhone 5 and the Sony Xperia Z enter with 16 GB models, the Sony Xperia Z has a Micro SD card slot that can add an additional 32 GB of storage.

The Cameras

The camera on the Sony Xperia Z wins at 13.1 MP compared to 8 MP on the iPhone 5. It’s not just megapixels that dictate the quality of a camera, but they certainly help. Indeed, the Sony back camera takes better pictures than the iPhone in most conditions.

The Verdict

The iPhone 5 does disappoint in many regards. It simply isn’t cutting the mustard at the top end of the industry at the moment. It is still a very good phone. Certainly, Apple lovers will continue to purchase the iPhone brand series phones; however Apple will have to improve in order to keep up with the pace of technology and the amazing releases from the likes of Sony, Samsung and HTC.

It’s well worth looking out for iPhone deals on the iPhone 4S. You can get iPhone deals that represent terrific value because the iPhone 4S is still a very good phone in premium high end of the market terms, and is comparable to the iPhone 5 on performance in most regards.

Top Tip

It is easy to become fixated on the phone you want and to forget about the financials. You should set a budget and ensure you get the best phone and the best allowances you can. If you are a heavy consumer of internet on your phone then you could end up with hefty bills if you scrimp on the allowance of internet data you get. Sometimes it is a balancing act between the phone you want and the allowances that you need.

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